By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach apparently has buried the hatchet and has accepted the apology given to him by Antonio Margarito, who earlier in the week made fun of Roach by mimicking him in shaking his hands in what appeared to some an attempt to tease Roach about his Parkinson’s disease condition. Margarito later said he wasn’t mimicking Roach about that, and was merely showing that he shaking with fear because Roach had been predicting that his fighter Manny Pacquiao will knock Margarito out. Whatever the case, Margarito still apologized for having imitated Roach, as did Brandon Rios, who was seen imitating Roach in the video.

In turn, Roach, had this say according to Yahoo News, “I accept his apology and lets just move on with the fight. I will shake his hand, yes. I think they [Margarito] realize what they did was too much. It went overboard a little bit. He [Robert Garcia, Margarito’s trainer] said I was throwing stuff at them and they wanted to throw something back and they went too far.”

Let’s hope Roach drops it and doesn’t keep harping about it endlessly in an effort to score points and make Margarito uncomfortable before Saturday’s big fight. Roach needs to be putting his attention on his own fighter and not someone making fun of him. Margarito is immune to mind games. Roach needs to try and talk boxing and strategy with his fighter, so that he doesn’t knocked out by Margarito. If it my trainer, I would have told him long ago to snap out of it and get with the program already. Roach has been dishing it out steadily on Margarito in the last month, and when Margarito finally fires back, we all this. I can only imagine what a fuss that would have been made had Margarito made a production of all the things that Roach has been saying about him.

Roach said “I don’t want Manny to be angry about it. He must stay calm. I want to keep Manny right where he is. He’s in a good place. I told Manny don’t worry about it. Just stay focused on what you have to do.” Well, that sounds good, but Roach needs to let this end. He can’t keep yapping about it, as if it’s the end of the world. Boxing fans want to hear about the fight, and not Roach’s hurt feelings in the last days before the fight.

Margarito said “I apologize what happened. Freddie Roach, if he will accept my apologies, and everyone with that disease. I want to tell you I would never, never make fun of anyone with that. I was training in the gym and this guy with a video camera came up to me and told me Freddie Roach said I was going to get knocked out. I just shook my hands and said ‘Wooh, I am really scared now.’ I was not making fun of Freddie.” I believe Margarito. That’s why Roach needs to let this go and let Pacquiao be the center of attention, not him. As a fighter, the last thing I want is my trainer bellyaching the last days before one of my big fights about how he got his feelings hurt over some perceived insult, which has already been apologized for and explained over and over again by the fighter who did it.

Kevin Iole from Yahoo Sports, reports that the reporter who stuck the video camera into Margarito’s face has since been banned from both Robert Garcia’s gym in Oxnard, California, and Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym.